Latest news with #Ezell
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Democrats asking for Trump appointees' salary details
Several Democratic senators are seeking more details about lower-level Trump administration appointees, including how much they are being paid after the federal government laid off thousands of career civil servants to cut costs earlier this year. Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Tim Kaine (Va.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Mark Warner (Va.), Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) wrote in a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) acting Director Charles Ezell on Wednesday that a memo he penned last month about salary scales and pay raises piqued their interest. 'You issued a memo to the heads and acting heads of departments and agencies encouraging them to offer the maximum available salary to political appointees and sidestep the regular hiring process,' the senators wrote. 'This memo, coupled with the administration's widespread layoffs of career government workers who have loyally served in the Executive Branch for Presidents of both political parties, makes clear your intention: fire dedicated public servants in droves, cut essential government services, and use taxpayer dollars to instead hire underqualified and overpaid political cronies,' the group continued. The senators added, 'Padding the pockets of political operatives while firing food safety inspectors is nothing short of an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars and massively wasteful.' The Democrats also requested brief job descriptions for all Schedule C appointees paid at the highest government tier, which is up to $195,200 annually. They are seeking the information from Ezell within a week. The OPM told The Hill that Schedule C employees go through rigorous vetting and background checks and are required to file financial disclosure forms. Ezell's memo didn't change that. The office added that the characterization in the senators' letter is misleading because 'Schedule C hires are very frequently involved in customer facing roles such as constituent service work.' In the initial memo, Ezell noted that agency heads have broad authority to fill and set the pay for 'Schedule C' roles that don't require civil service eligibility or competitive hiring procedures. 'Such flexibility is important to attract highly-qualified Schedule C employees to serve in important confidential, policy-determining, policy-making and policy-advocating roles,' he wrote. 'Well-qualified Schedule C employees are needed 'to drive the unusually expansive and transformative agenda the American people elected President Trump to accomplish.'' The memo came a week after a report found that the government laid off 216,215 workers in March — boosting the total federal job cuts in Trump's first three months back in office to 279,445 after the OPM and the Office of Management and Budget directed agency heads to slash employees. Updated at 12:42 p.m. EDT. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Senate Democrats asking for Trump appointees' salary details
Several Democratic senators are seeking more details about lower-level Trump administration appointees, including how much they are being paid after the federal government laid off thousands of career civil servants to cut costs earlier this year. Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Tim Kaine (Va.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Mark Warner (Va.), Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) wrote in a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) acting director Charles Ezell on Wednesday that a memo he penned last month about salary scales and pay raises piqued their interest. 'You issued a memo to the heads and acting heads of departments and agencies encouraging them to offer the maximum available salary to political appointees and sidestep the regular hiring process,' the senators wrote. 'This memo, coupled with the administration's widespread layoffs of career government workers who have loyally served in the Executive Branch for Presidents of both political parties, makes clear your intention: fire dedicated public servants in droves, cut essential government services, and use taxpayer dollars to instead hire underqualified and overpaid political cronies,' the group continued. The senators added, 'Padding the pockets of political operatives while firing food safety inspectors is nothing short of an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars and massively wasteful.' The Democrats also requested brief job descriptions for all Schedule C appointees paid at the highest government tier, which is up to $195,200 annually. They are seeking the information from Ezell within a week. OPM didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment. In the initial memo, Ezell noted that agency heads have broad authority to fill and set the pay for 'Schedule C' roles that don't require civil service eligibility or competitive hiring procedures. 'Such flexibility is important to attract highly-qualified Schedule C employees to serve inimportant confidential, policy-determining, policy-making and policy-advocating roles,' he wrote. 'Well-qualified Schedule C employees are needed 'to drive the unusually expansive and transformative agenda the American people elected President Trump to accomplish.'' The memo came a week after a report found that government laid off 216,215 workers in March — boosting the total federal job cuts in Trump's first three months back in office to 279,445 after OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed agency heads to slash employees.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democrats Demand Salary Details For Trump's Political Appointees
WASHINGTON — Democratic senators on Wednesday asked a top Trump administration official for details on the salaries of President Donald Trump's political appointees and raised questions about the administration's urging of agency leaders to max out the amount of taxpayer dollars allowed for these jobs while ignoring the standard hiring process. In a new letter to Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, eight senators asked for the salary information of all so-called 'Schedule C' appointees, or people who Trump appointed to lower-level policy roles across federal agencies. Led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the senators asked Ezell to justify an April 10 memo he issued to the heads of all agencies, reminding them of the 'great flexibility' they have when setting the pay for Schedule C employees. In sending this memo, Ezell bypassed the authority of each agency's human resources department to set the terms for these appointments. Between the memo and the administration's efforts to purge tens of thousands of career civil servants from the U.S. government, it 'makes clear your intention,' the senators wrote to Ezell. 'Fire dedicated public servants in droves, cut essential government services, and use taxpayer dollars to instead hire underqualified and overpaid political cronies.' The senators also asked for the job descriptions of any Schedule C employees the administration has hired at the highest pay grade in the government's general pay system, which maxes out at $195,200. The letter is signed by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Mark Warner (Va.), Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Murray. Here's a copy of their letter, obtained by HuffPost: Most of the senators on the letter represent states near Washington, D.C., that are home to large numbers of current or recently fired federal employees. Murray, though, is likely leading the effort as the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which decides how much money federal agencies get. 'OPM's April 10 memo makes clear the Trump Administration's ultimate goal is to decimate the nonpolitical career civil service and use taxpayer dollars to enrich and reward political allies, all at the cost of the government services that people rely on,' the senators wrote. 'Padding the pockets of political operatives while firing food safety inspectors is nothing short of an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars and massively wasteful.' They give Ezell until June 4, one week from Wednesday, to provide salary information on all Schedule C employees.
E&E News
05-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Trump admin praises feds as ‘backbone' of government
The Trump administration celebrated government workers Monday as President Donald Trump and his aides continue efforts to dramatically downsize the federal workforce. 'We are tremendously grateful to our federal employees and recognize their commitment to public service,' Chuck Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, said Monday in a statement. Ezell marked Public Service Recognition Week, an annual event that takes place from May 5-11. This week, 'we especially recognize federal employees as the backbone of a functioning government and this strong nation,' said Ezell, whose agency acts as the federal government's human resources arm. Advertisement The remarks follow a series of early moves by the Trump White House to shrink the federal government by firing employees, cutting federal spending and slashing the government's real estate footprint.
The Hill
19-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Canadian airline cancels flights to Tennessee as other US routes suspended
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Amid a tense political climate, a Canadian airline says it is canceling flights between Canada and a Tennessee city already targeted by the country's tariffs. In response to tariffs enacted by President Trump, Canadians have made their opinion of the U.S. clear, booing the country's national anthem at NHL and NBA games and removing American-made goods — including Tennessee whiskey — from their store shelves. Recent reports show Canadians are also avoiding any trips to the U.S. According to the Canadian Press, they have been canceling travel plans. Data from travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada showed leisure bookings to U.S. cities dropped 40 percent in February over last February, with one in five customers canceling U.S. trips over the previous three months. Canadian airlines have taken note. One in particular, Flair Airlines, recently announced it would end flights to Nashville. 'I can confirm that Flair won't be flying to Nashville this summer,' said Kim Bowie, director of communications for Flair Airlines. According to Flair's website, the airline's flights to Nashville are its only route to Tennessee. During a Monday meeting of the Tennessee House Finance, Ways and Means Committee, Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Mark Ezell said it's a loss of about 18,000 seats. 'We see travelers quickly react to political news and then we see that great marketing overcomes that traveler settlement,' said Ezell, who expressed concern about the cancelations but confidence that the challenge will be overcome because of Tennessee's great assets. 'Do you really want to miss seeing the Smoky Mountains,' said Ezell. 'Do you really want to miss getting to go to Graceland?' Air Canada has also said it would reduce flights to Arizona, Florida, and Las Vegas starting this month, while WestJet told the Canadian Press that it had seen bookings shift from the U.S. to places like Mexico and the Caribbean. Sunwing Airlines has dropped all of its U.S. flights while Air Transat has reduced service to the country, the outlet reported. Another Canadian airline, Porter Airlines, told the National Post it was pulling back on its advertising of American destinations because 'some Canadians may view this negatively.' Amid economic turmoil, high-profile plane crashes, and consumer uncertainty, major U.S. airlines like Delta, Southwest, and American Airlines have issued warnings about falling travel demand.
